Featured Workshop Instructors

Hungarian Canadian Cultural Centre
April 19th to April 22nd, 2007.

Take classes with some of our star teachers.
Make sure to register early, as workshop sizes are limited due to space.

Randa Kamel
Sahra Saeeda • Amir Thaleb • Kaeshi (of Bellyqueen) • Tamalyn Dallal • George Sawa PhD
Sashar Zarif • Yasmina Ramzy • Rahma Haddad • Suleiman Warwar • Martine Werotte

Randa Kamel teaches
Thursday April 19th at 9 a.m.
Friday April 20th, 2 p.m.
and Sunday April 22nd. 4:30 p.m.

See Randa
on the Gala Stage
Saturday April 21st.

See Randa's bio information

Sahra Saeeda teaches
Thursday April 19th at 4:30 p.m.
Friday April 20th, 9 a.m.
and Saturday April 21st. 2 p.m.

See Sahra
on the Gala Stage
Saturday April 21st.

See Sahra's bio information

Amir Thaleb teaches
Friday April 20th, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday April 21st, 9 a.m.
and Sunday April 22nd, 2 p.m.

See Amir
on the Gala Stage
Saturday April 21st.

See Amir's bio information

Tamalyn Dallal teaches
Saturday April 21st, 11:30 a.m.

See Tamalyn
on the Gala Stage
Saturday April 21st.

She also shows her movie
on Sunday April, 22nd.
See Speakers page for details.

See Tamalyn's bio information

Kaeshi Chai (of Bellyqueen) teaches
Thursday April 19th, 11:30 a.m.
and Sunday April 22nd, 9 a.m.

See Bellyqueen
on the Gala Stage
Saturday April 21st.

Bellyqueen will also be
on the Main Stage
Thursday April 19th
and Friday April 20th.

See Kaeshi's bio information

Yasmina Ramzy teaches with
live musicians including Bassam Bishara
Sunday April 22nd. 11:30 p.m.

See Yasmina
on the Gala Stage with
Bassam leading the orchestra
Saturday April 21st.

She gives a lecture
Saturday April 21st.

She is a panelist
for our Panel discussions
Friday April 20th.

See Yasmina's bio information

See Bassam's bio information

Martine Werotte teaches
Thursday April 19th at 2 p.m.

See Martine
on the Gala Stage
Saturday April 21st.

She is a panelist
for our Panel Discussions
Sunday April 22nd.

See Martine's bio information

Suleiman Warwar was born in Nazareth, Palestine in 1977.

He began playing Arabic Tablah, or dumbek, at age 6. The self-taught musician was the lead dumbek player in his high-school orchestra and performed traditional and modern musical pieces around the country.

Suleiman immigrated to Canada in 1995, where he was introduced to Latin American, African, Turkish, and many other types of music.

As well as traditional Arabic percussion, including dumbek, duff, katim, and riq, Suleiman also plays bongos, congas, and djembe.

His innovative style of drumming has led him to play with such artists as Bassam Bishara, George Wasouf, and in various peace movement events.

Suleiman also teaches Middle Eastern, African, and South American drumming through the Toronto Board of Education. He is now the lead dumbek player for Arabesque Dance Company and has a CD out titled Beyond Rhythm.

Suleiman Warwar teaches Thursday April 19th and Saturday April 21st at Noon.

Suleiman is lead drummer for
The Arabesque Dance Company
during the Gala Show Saturday April 21st.

He is also a panelist
for our Panel Discussions
on Saturday April 21st.

See Speakers page
for details.

George Sawa was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1947.

He studied Classical Arabic music at the Higher Institute for Arabic Music specializing in qanun, Arabic theory and classical singing. After immigrating to Canada in 1970, he obtained an MA in Musicology and Ethnomusicology and a PhD in Arabic historical musicology from the University of Toronto.

Since 1972, when he founded the Traditional Arabic Music Ensemble with Ebrahim Eleish, he has directed and performed with the ensemble all over North America, in both concert venues and lecture demonstrations at universities and colleges. As a soloist, he has also performed in Europe, in concerts and radio broadcasts. He is frequently invited to international conferences for presentations and lectures on various aspects of medieval and modern Arabic music.

At present, he is directing the Centre for Studies in Middle Eastern Music. The Centre is a private institute devoted to research in Arabic music, as well as a school which offers private and group instruction in vocal music and theory.

George has published many articles on Arabic music, including two recent articles for the Encyclopedia of Islam. His book publications include Music Performance Practice In Early Abbasid Era, The Musical And Socio Cultural Dictionary of the Grand Book of Songs, and The Theory And Practices Of Rhythm In Medieval Arabic Music.

Dr. George Sawa teaches
Friday April 20th at Noon.

Sashar Zarif teaches
Saturday April 21st, 4:30 p.m.

See Sashar and
The Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre
on the Gala Stage,
Saturday April 21st.

See Sashar's bio information

Rahma Haddad teaches
Friday April 20th, 11:30 a.m.

See Rahma
on the Gala Stage
Saturday April 21st.

She is a panelist
for our Panel discussions
Thursday April 19th.

See Rahma's bio information